When Martin McKeefery straps into his supermodified race car, his mind will be on one thing — performance.

A resident of Milpitas, Calif., 20-year-old McKeefery is the 2007 champion of the ASA/WSSRL supermodified series. In just his second season of his supermodified career, Martin won the championship following his 2006 Rookie of the Year honors.

The league, now called Supermodifed Racing Association, SMRA, starts its season April 5th at Madera Speedway in Madera, Calf. The series will also travel to Oregon, Utah and Idaho.

McKeefery’s biggest challenge this winter was to repair the car. A broken rear axle sent him into the wall at 140 mph while racing in the first East West Shootout in Concord, NC last November while running third in the main event. An accident of that magnitude can do a lot of damage, luckily Martin was not injured. McKeefery has rebuilt the green Riddler #27 from the frame up. “I have worked many long hours on this car to get to a level I consider raceable, I feel the car has never been as stoutly built as it is now”.

“I’ve done most of the repairs myself. I am fortunate that several businesses in Milpitas were able to help me with the sheet metal and painting.” McKeefery looks to perform better than ever at the first race and feels confident he has prepared the car to his satisfaction. “I just can’t wait to “fire-off” for the 2008 season!”

In the off season, McKeefery attended Toastmasters meetings to develop his public speaking, and classes at Ohlone Jr. College in Fremont where he is scheduled to graduate in June.

When asked if he feels some pressure on him now that he’s won a championship, he said “The pressure is on the car for this first race. I won’t feel comfortable until I take my first practice and I’m up to speed. I have a great crew lined up for this race and I won’t have to worry about setup.”

McKeefery plans to use this season to learn a bit more from the supermodified. “The super is an amazing race machine with so much to learn. I know there are still a few more lessons for me. My next goal is to race in the NASCAR Camping World development series and that’s where I’ll be putting my energy.”